Introduction

The "Hotel Melanoma" moniker is a metaphor for living with my particular brand of cancer. Except for those lucky few of us deemed "cured", all we cancer survivors are guests of one of the many, many branded hotels in the "Hotel Carcinoma" chain. We can check out any time we like, but we can never leave. Meanwhile, let's be livin' it up; and please support cancer education, prevention, and treatment research.



Tutu Brothers

Friday, June 1, 2012

Happy Birthday To Me

My 50th birthday present in 2003 was a melanoma diagnosis. And for the ensuing ten weeks or so, the diagnostic news just kept getting progressively worse. For a mercifully brief time, the docs didn’t think I’d see 51. But lucky for me, a large mass next to my cervical spine turned out not to be a melanoma tumor. Consequently, my upcoming 59th birthday is a gift in and of itself, and now my goal is to reach 65 and become a Social Security and Medicare burden on the next generation.

Rock on, Boomers, with The Hotel Melanoma rendition of Sammy Hagar’s “I Can’t Drive 55”…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvV3nn_de2k



One foot in the grave, looks like I won’t last, hey!
Well, there's too much panic, this must pass, yo!
So I tried their best near lethal brew
The big Black C fright come and crushed my groove again!


Go on and sign me up to make 65
Rest my case, mela’s dead, I’m alive
Burn the incense n' all that jive
'cause I survived, 59!


Lymph nodes?! Uh!


So I signed my name on consents galore, hey!
Yeah the doc said, "Boy, just one more
I'm gonna kick your ass in the UC joint"
Looked me in the eye, said, "You get my point?"
I said "Yeah!, Oh yea!"


Go on and sign me up to make 65
Rest my case, mela’s dead, I’m alive
Burn the incense n' all that jive
'cause I survived, 59!


Oh, yea!


I’m alive, 59!
I survived, 59!
I’m alive, 59!
I survived, 59!


Huh!


Now I live quite slow, you know it's been nine years.
And I can't get no pars, my game’s second tier.
What used to take two hours now takes all day.
Duh - It took me 16 rounds to get to today!


Go on and sign me up to make 65
Rest my case, mela’s dead, I’m alive
Burn the incense n' all that jive
'cause I survived, 59!


Ho, ho, ho, I survived...(I survived, 59!)
I’m alive... (I’m alive 59!)
I’m alive, 59!

3 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday and many Happy Returns. You are living in more promising times than before and improvements in research are advancing toward better treatments. And thanks to you and others for being the guinea pigs!!! to add to the research data and problem solving responsible to help others. Have a great celebration..... I think you will make it to 65.....

    Namaste

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  2. Happy Forty-Nineteenth Birthday Rich! We're all lookng for many more years of classic re-written songs!

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  3. Here's to many more from UV Skinz (and me)! :-) ~Kalisha

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